Tuesday, December 6, 2011

The Nintendo eShop is Nintendo's online shop through the 3DS where people can download games from old Nintendo hardware, DSiWare games, and new download software specific for the 3DS. Because Nintendo does not disclose sales numbers, and developers are most likely barred from revealing them, we do not know how games are doing on the service.

But we might have at least a small hint.

After playing a game on the 3DS for over a hour, players are capable of rating these games via the eShop, and the totals are shown on each game page, showing up to five stars based on what the population thinks. At the very least, we now have minimum sales figures for the games, but with a very large disclaimer: these numbers represent the users who have done the following:

1) Purchased the game2) Played the game for over an hour on the 3DS, and3) Chose to rate the game on the eShop.

People who play the games on their DSi systems cannot rate games, nor can people who have not played the games for less than one hour. Since rating cannot be done outside of the eShop, some might have forgotten to or chosen not to rate said games. Also note that a rating does not necessarily correspond with a sale in the month in which it appears, only emphasizing the number of additional people who completed the above steps.

With that disclaimer in mind, let us take a look at how the games performed.

---

Free Apps

1

1

Nintendo Video

4255

28997

2

2

Pokedex 3D

4002

40287

3

3

Netflix

2192

18786

It appears that the streams are about to cross this upcoming month, as Nintendo Video and Pokedex 3D are getting closer to one another on a monthly rating scale. Pokedex 3D remains the most-rated downloaded product on the eShop, and it looks like it will remain in that position for a very long time to come.

I thought Hulu would emerge by now, but I suspect it will appear before year end. Demos may appear here as well, but we will see if there are any ways to vote for demos as they appear.

Video Downloads

1

1

Thriller

91

134

2

2

Night of the Living Carrots

72

102

3

3

The Pig Who Cried Werewolf

21

29

Just when you thought the video downloads could not do much better than last month, they did MUCH better than it. I can imagine more consistent views on these clips now that they are off Nintendo Video and are viewable in 3D. Either way, I doubt we'll see many more videos added for some time yet.

Pre-eShop DSiWare*

1

1

Plants vs. Zombies

669

4921

2

2

Photo Dojo

430

3583

3

3

Inchworm Animation

360

2474

4

4

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!

316

3064

5

5

Cave Story

260

3312

6

7

Zenonia

182

1532

7

8

Mario Clock

176

1341

8

6

Anonymous Notes Chapter 1 - From the Abyss

170

1747

9

10

GO Series: 10 Second Run

161

1176

10

13

Shantae: Risky's Revenge

150

2216

11

14

Nintendo Countdown Calender

137

638

12

16

Pop Island - Paperfield

136

1059

13

11

Tetris Party Live

126

1299

14

9

Bomberman Blitz

110

1391

15

12

Crystal Monsters

106

915

16

15

Army Defender

97

856

17

17

JellyCar 2

84

776

18

19

Mario Calculator

79

351

19

21

Dr. Mario Express

65

717

20

Glory Days: Tactical Defense

62

391

21

18

Soul of Darkness

59

750

22

24

Dark Void Zero

50

733

23

36

AiRace

47

216

24

20

Gangstar 2: Kings of L.A.

45

281

25

30

Arcade Bowling

43

357

26

22

Earthworm Jim

42

262

27

23

Pop Island

39

439

28

27

Blazybloo: Super Melee Action Battle Royale

37

302

29

32

Paper Airplane Chase

36

299

30

25

My Farm

34

368

31

28

Touch Solitaire

32

397

32

Faceez Monsters!

31

163

33

34

5 in 1 Solitaire

27

234

34

29

Anonymous Notes Chapter 2 - From the Abyss

24

457

35

37

GO Series: Defense Wars

24

180

36

26

Extreme Hangman

23

501

37

31

Castle Conqueror

21

226

38

35

WarioWare: Snapped!

20

226

39

33

My Exotic Farm

17

220

40

40

A Topsy Turvy Life: The Turvys Strike Back

9

79

41

39

Petz Kittens

9

60

42

38

Petz Dogz Family

6

75

*This list consists of a selection of DSiWare games that released prior to June 2011 and does not reflect the actual rating listing of every previous DSiWare game released.

No real surprises here, as the usual top games continue to get their fair share of ratings on a monthly basis. Also, Petz is clearly not a franchise which will get a lot of ratings, as is Topsy Turvy Life. Either way, 15 of the 42 tracked games had over a hundred ratings, whereas last month had 17 out of 40. Total votes were 4551, down from last month's 5278. It seemed more focus was on other parts of the shop than these games.

This month we spotted this game around the Top 20:

Escapee GO!

136

136

We'll see how it goes in December!

Post-eShop DSiWare

1

1

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition*

7491

22118

2

Bloons TD

305

305

3

Cut the Rope

158

158

4

8

1001 BlockBusters

60

97

5

2

Afterzoom

54

515

6

4

Extreme Hangman 2

51

334

7

3

Let's Create! Pottery

50

242

8

6

Magical Whip

41

143

9

5

GO Series: Fishing Resort

32

157

10

17

Castle Conqueror: Revolution

30

48

11

7

The Lost Town: The Dust

29

240

12

38

Halloween: Trick or Treat

29

35

13

9

Go! Go! Kokopolo

28

152

14

14

Crazy Hamster

27

66

15

12

My Asian Farm

20

84

16

10

Calculator

20

76

17

21

My Australian Farm

18

105

18

18

Stratego: Next Edition

17

121

19

24

Moto eXtreme

14

124

20

15

Simply Minesweeper

14

33

21

Escape Trick: Convenience Store

13

13

22

19

Make-Up & Style

12

110

23

16

Build-a-lot

12

68

24

Castle Conqueror: Heroes

12

12

25

20

Antipole

11

140

26

11

Break Tactics

11

48

27

26

Blockado - Puzzle Island

10

44

28

30

Defense of the Middle Kingdom

10

36

29

31

Bugs 'N' Balls

10

20

30

49

Academy Checkers

10

13

31

Come On! Heroes

10

10

32

28

Hidden Photo

9

41

33

27

GO Series: Portable Shrine Wars

9

67

34

34

Furry Legends

9

17

35

House M.D. - Crashed

9

9

36

29

Farm Frenzy

8

53

37

41

Jewel Keepers: Easter Island

8

57

38

22

House M.D. - Blue Meanie

8

41

39

48

DotMan

8

17

40

25

Trollboarder

7

38

41

37

Go Fetch! 2

7

19

42

13

Zoonies - Escape from Makatu

7

51

43

32

Crystal Caves of Amen-Ra

7

17

44

43

House M.D. - Skull and Bones

7

11

45

39

Pro Jumper! Guilty Gear Tangent!?

6

81

46

23

Escape Trick: Ninja Castle

6

26

47

1950s Lawn Mower Kids

6

6

48

33

Kung Fu Dragon

5

39

49

40

Heart Spaces Euchre

4

41

50

42

Play & Learn Spanish

3

14

51

45

Beach Party Craze

2

25

52

46

Boardwalk Ball Toss

2

20

53

36

Roller Angels

2

34

54

52

B-Team - Episode 2: Ice & Venom

2

6

55

Play & Learn Chinese

2

2

56

53

Gold Fever

1

20

57

44

Zimo: Mahjong Fanatic

1

23

58

55

Delbo

1

29

59

50

Puzzle Fever

1

32

60

51

Just SING! 80s Collection

0

5

61

35

Oscar's World Tour

0

14

62

47

Puzzle Rocks

0

8

63

54

Bridge

0

3

64

Battle of the Elements

0

0

** This game is freely available until February 2012.

This was perhaps the biggest month in terms of new DSiWare games that were not free. Obviously the freely available Four Swords game stayed on top, but two new games this month sat just below it. Bloons TD took the top spot for new games with 305 ratings, which is already enough to put it ahead of all but three games on this list for total ratings. This was followed immediately by Cut the Rope which got 158 ratings, which is still greater than any other debut outside of Four Swords or Bloons TD.

The other games did not fare as well. Battle of the Elements, which debuted the week before the month was over, got no votes this month, whereas Play & Learn Chinese sat above it with a paltry 2 votes. In regards to last month's releases, 1001 BlockBusters performed the best at 4th with 60 more votes. All of the bigger releases from months past are still high up on this list, including Let's Create Pottery, Go! Go! Kokopolo, GO Series: Fishing Resort, and Afterzoom.

In terms of the overall picture, it is mixed. 31 games of the 64 released since launch got at least ten ratings, and of those, only three surpassed a hundred ratings this month. Five games did not get a single rating, and 16 got less than five ratings. That shows that lower-tier games on DSiWare are either played for a very short period of time or are not even downloaded enough to garner much of a note on ratings.

Six months running, there are only 15 games which have more than a hundred ratings in the new DSiWare releases, and a total of 26,533 ratings encompass the whole category, 83% of which belong to a free Zelda 25th Anniversary game.

Classic Games

1

1

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

961

2579

2

2

Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX

739

16192

3

3

Super Mario Land

530

9633

4

4

Kirby's Dream Land

341

3344

5

5

Donkey Kong

206

3812

6

Metroid II: Return of Samus

143

143

7

6

Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge

132

645

8

7

Game & Watch Gallery

98

1012

9

8

Mario's Picross

83

993

10

9

Gargoyle's Quest

75

516

11

Balloon Kid

52

52

12

13

Double Dragon

50

81

13

11

Pac-Man

41

141

14

10

Catrap

36

107

15

20

Burger Time Deluxe

32

41

16

12

Alleyway

26

660

17

15

Avenging Spirit

25

174

18

14

Baseball

17

173

19

17

Qix

14

198

20

18

Radar Mission

12

228

21

16

Tennis

9

161

22

21

Side Pocket

7

15

23

19

Fortified Zone

5

107

24

22

Golf

3

24

The changes here are not entirely noticeable. The top games continue to perform well, while lesser-known games fight amongst themselves for the scraps. Metroid II debuted at 6, although I expect it to climb in December's chart. Balloon Kid, the only other release this month, got 52 ratings, which is almost 20 less than Catrap's debut. It is surprising that no third party games released this past month, as is the fact that only two games appeared at all.

Last month's titles all fell just below that of Balloon Kid. Double Dragon was the best performer of the bunch with 50 ratings. It will no doubt surpass 100 ratings in December. Meanwhile Side Pocket actually performed worse this month than last, and to date it is the lowest-performing game on these charts with a small 15 ratings. The lowest performers overall this month were Fortified Zone and Golf, which continues to sit at the bottom of the charts.

Super Mario Land 2 is catching up to the other big Classic Games, but it may take a few more months to get there. Game & Watch Gallery exceeded 1,000 ratings, while Mario's Picross will do the same in December. Overall, after six months, 41,031 ratings were made to Classic Games, with 39.5% going to Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (which is, to date, the most-rated eShop title which has never been free).

3DS Download Software

1

FreakyForms: Your Creations, Alive!

1249

1249

2

1

3D Classics: Excitebike*

650

18920

3

3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure

600

600

4

2

Let's Golf! 3D

223

1855

5

6

Pyramids

146

201

6

5

3D Classics: Xevious

106

1132

7

3

3D Classics: Twinbee

105

332

8

4

3D Classics: Urban Champion

102

634

*Available for free during June 2011

Finally, after half a year of waiting, Nintendo finally released its first non-3D Classics title for the 3DS Download Software lineup, and gamers responded. Asobism's FreakyForms got the highest ratings, already surpassing all but Let's Golf! 3D in LTD ratings, with great possibility that it will surpass it in the following months. Meanwhile, 3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure shot up in sales and ratings after its debut, no doubt on the verge of surpassing Urban Champion and approaching Xevious in the near future. Excitebike is untouchable as it was freely available at the eShop launch and will most likely remain the most-rated 3DS Download Software for the forseeable future, so seeing it fall to FreakyForms in monthly ratings was a change of pace.

Last month's Pyramids more than doubled, but even considering that, the game is the least-rated 3DS Download Software to date, followed by 3D Classics: Twinbee by just over a hundred ratings. Since its existence, the eShop has 24,923 ratings on these games, of which 76% belongs to the free 3D Classics: Excitebike. This ratio looks set to decline as more 3DS Download Software titles emerge into next year.

Overall

1

1

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition*

7491

22118

2

FreakyForms: Your Creations, Alive!

1249

1249

3

2

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

961

2579

4

3

Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX

739

16192

5

6

Plants vs. Zombies

669

4921

6

4

3D Classics: Excitebike*

650

18920

7

3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure

600

600

8

5

Super Mario Land

530

9633

9

7

Photo Dojo

430

3583

10

9

Inchworm Animation

360

2474

11

8

Kirby's Dream Land

341

3344

12

10

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!

316

3064

13

Bloons TD

305

305

14

13

Cave Story

260

3312

15

12

Let's Golf! 3D

223

1855

16

11

Donkey Kong

206

3812

17

16

Zenonia

182

1532

18

17

Mario Clock

176

1341

19

15

Anonymous Notes Chapter 1 - From the Abyss

170

1747

20

19

GO Series: 10 Second Run

161

1176

*This game was freely available during June 2011.**This game is freely available until February 2012.

Three new games appear in the overall Top 20, and that is a delight to see for sure! Bloons TD sits at 13 and is the second time a new DSiWare title appeared in the Top 20. Note that Cut the Rope sits at 21, just shy of the Top 20. FreakyForms debuts at 2, below the free Zelda title, while 3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure enjoys being 7 right next to Excitebike.

Otherwise, the Top 20 is pretty similar to that of last month. The most-rated video download, Thriller, sits at 36. Otherwise, the top sellers of each category are seen above.

Now, while some might be questioning my methods here and saying "These are just ratings and mean nothing to sales," the method has been proven to be a pretty good method for sales predictions. Every month, Nintendo posts on the eShop a section labelled "Top Sellers" for a given month. So, as long as Nintendo releases them, these lists will follow all the above content.

Top Sellers

1

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition*

2

FreakyForms: Your Creations, Alive!

3

3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure

4

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

5

Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX

6

Thriller

7

Plants vs. Zombies

8

Super Mario Land

9

Kirby's Dream Land

10

Photo Dojo

11

Bloons TD

12

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!

13

Night of the Living Carrots

14

Pyramids

15

GO Series: 10 Second Run

16

Cut the Rope

17

Let's Golf! 3D

18

Inchworm Animation

19

Mario Clock

20

Nintendo Countdown Calender

*The game is freely available until February 2012.

For one, this puts Kirby's Adventure in a higher spot than it was before. It also brings Pyramids higher as well, above Let's Golf! 3D, even. Cut the Rope is at 16 instead of 21, and most surprising of all, both Thriller and Night of the Living Carrots actually outsold a large portion of titles in the eShop. Notice that Excitebike no longer appears here, as the game has not sold much since it was no longer free. There are some shifts here and there, as well, but what puzzles me are the downloads of the Mario Clock and Countdown Calender, but I guess I'll never understand that. The basic listing is more or less correct, however, compared to the ratings listing.

Now, what's in store for December? A new update just happened, and demos may appear in the near future. Nintendo and Intelligent Systems's Pushmo is already out, and rumors of Wario Land and a GameBoy Color title are abound. 3D Classics: Kid Icarus will most likely see a January release, so that leaves the question: will we see any more third party 3DS Download Software titles before year-end? We'll find out soon!

Over the years, Cartoon Network has become the home of dozens of cartoon franchises that span across a variety of audiences and styles. A number of people might have even wondered, “which character would win in an all-out brawl?” Well, thanks to Papaya Studio’s Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion, people could figure it out for themselves, choosing CN characters to duke it out! However, when it was originally released on Nintendo 3DS, the content felt unfinished and the ideas unrealized; the uneven graphics, poor sound quality, and dodgy performance hurt it quite a bit. Now, a few months later, Papaya Studio has released a console version, titled Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion XL. After playing the first release and finding it disappointing, I was concerned that the console version would end up the same way. Luckily, I was mistaken. Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion XL is both larger and better than its 3DS counterpart by far. More characters, more levels, more modes, more action, and best of all, more polish! While it still has its flaws to keep it from being a punch time explosion for everyone, the XL version is a much better and more recommendable game.

VIDEO REVIEW

At its core, Punch Time Explosion XL is a fighting game, but not just any fighting game. It is, without a doubt, based directly on Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros Brawl, but instead of Nintendo franchises, it has Cartoon Network characters, including the Power Puff Girls, Ben Tennyson, and Flapjack. Besides the original eighteen playable characters, XL adds eight new fighters such as Johnny Bravo and the Scotsman which can be obtained by unlocking them via the in-game store. While the selection of characters is much better in XL, some cartoon franchises are neglected or not represented at all. There are plenty of CN hits such as Samurai Jack, Chowder, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, and Ben 10. However, older franchises such as Ed, Edd, n Eddy and Courage the Cowardly Dog as well as more recent and popular shows such as Adventure Time are surprisingly absent while Ben 10: Alien Force gets a large push. The uneven distribution of characters is apparent in the game’s level count, as well.

From children with transformation abilities to the darkest evils around, this gamesure has varied characters.

When comparing the 3DS stages to XL’s environments, the 3DS feels still and lacking while XL is exploding with more action. Both the returning stages as well as five new stages now offer a wide variety of activity, from breakaway floors to massive koi fish attacks and massive robot-induced destruction. When you introduce these stages to four-player battles, the game lives up to its name.

The goal of each fight is to knock your opponents off the screen with your character’s special attacks. Not only does each character have their own special moves, but they also have a unique Punch Time Explosion, a super powerful attack which can only be activated after collecting power cubes dropped by opponents. Thankfully, the Punch Time Explosions are not tediously long and jarring like those on the 3DS but instead appear quicker and are more integrated into the match. Besides your character’s move set, there are also weapons that can be picked up, including a teddy bear launcher and Assist Cubes which can summon another character to ‘assist’ the summoner. These Assist Attacks vary greatly from one another, from Gwen Tennyson’s psychic shields to Captain Stickybeard’s canon attack. A new element in XL is the Synergy Attack in which your character joins with the assist character to perform a special super move. They are very similar to the PTEs but are harder to come by and help add an extra level of chaos to the game.

Does Johnny Bravo want to brawl or just dance? Could go either way!

The actual game performance has been tweaked for the better. Thanks to the extended development time, the hit detection feels more spot-on than in the original version, and the game moves smoother more often than in the 3DS game. Despite these tweaks, XL’s computer AI is still one-noted and frustrating on the harder settings. When playing a team match or free-for-all match with computers, I found they would only come after me instead of going after each other and very rarely changed their strategies. For this reason, playing the game by yourself does not feel that engaging, but once you add a friend or three, the game’s enjoyment is increased dramatically. Unfortunately, these friends will need to be with you; the game lacks an online multiplayer mode.

The game content is broken up into two modes: Story Mode and Battle Mode. The Story Mode brings all the Cartoon Network worlds together and tries its best to explain how they came together in the first place. While the narrator is watching Cartoon Network, chaos begins to spread across the various shows as the cartoons' villains begin to invade other worlds. Ben Tennyson quickly heads out to stop them and, with some help from Dexter, gathers all the heroes together in order to save their worlds. Level-wise, the Story Mode is more or less the same as in the 3DS edition. Players must run and jump through multiple Cartoon Network worlds, which tend to lead up to battle arenas against one of the game’s villains or large enemy hordes. Thanks to the extra development time, the platforming segments feel less floaty, and the game improves the tutorial elements of the game. To break up all the combat and platforming, some stages have the occasional mini-game, ranging from first-person shooter segments to mine cart rides. While a few have been fixed up from their 3DS counterparts, others feel out of place and uninteresting. One example is FPS sections, which feel especially difficult to aim. The level design starts great, but as I progressed, I found the worlds and layout designs to become less interesting. While playing the story mode by yourself might get boring, XL allows for co-op play up to four players, which makes the story mode far more enjoyable. In fact, we highly recommend cooperative play for the best experience.

Man, getting to school is more dangerous than I thought!

The game’s other mode is Battle Mode, which has been given more options that were lacking in the handheld version. These include PTE Mode, where the winner collects the most energy orbs, Drone Mode, where the winner deals the most damage to the enemies on-stage, and Arcade Mode, in which you challenge character after character without any platforming or mini-game sections found in the Story Mode. While playing through the story and battle modes, you collect in-game points that can be used to purchase XL’s new characters and levels, alternate costumes for all characters, and video clips from the cartoons in HD quality. With plenty of nostalgia-soaked unlockables, the game does have a good sense of replayability, if you are interested in Cartoon Network’s lore.

Punch Time Explosion XL’s graphics and sound have been given a bit of an enhancement. The game’s textures, models, and backdrops all look more detailed in a higher resolution, and the musical tracks and sound effects are a lot crisper than before. The models are smoother and more animated, and bump-mapping and bloom -lighting improve the environments.

Despite all the fine-tuning and smoothing out XL has gone through, the game has an issue with inconsistent presentation. Transitions from cutscenes to gameplay and onward are rough at times, as the game tries to load the next area. Cutting to the main menu after a single match in Battle Mode seems off, and hearing the menu theme pop up after every level or match became annoying as I progressed. There were a few moments in which animations became jumpy, and sound effects were also inconsistent in volume. Also for voices, only the announcer spoke in full sentences, while the others gave small grunts or phrases instead of what they were actually saying. Hearing “I am Dexter, boy genius,” when he is clearly not introducing himself feels out of place. Not all voices are original and are sometimes poorly replaced, though the XL version has more original voices this time around. While the graphics and audio have benefited from the extra development time, the overall presentation of the game is still inconsistent and should have been smoothed out a little more before launch.

Conclusion

When compared to XL, Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion for the 3DS feels like a beta. Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion XL feels more like the complete version with more characters, levels, and modes. However, if you have played the 3DS version, you will find a nearly identical story mode and gameplay experience here. What really sets XL apart from the 3DS game is the overall improved quality it got from a longer development time. Better graphics, sound, and physics all make this game a more enjoyable experience than on the handheld. Also adding cartoon clips and costumes can extend replayability and bring more nostalgia to fans. Despite these improvements, there are still some glaring presentational inconsistencies that make this game feel unpolished compared to the greats. If you enjoy any of the cartoons represented in the game, you will more likely than not find this to be a pleasant gaming experience. However, if you are not a fan of the cartoons used in the game, this game is an average fighter based off Super Smash Bros. that can be played on any console for a budget price. Also, play it with someone or you will be missing out on the best of it.

CNPTEXL is a fun, action-packed multiplayer brawler with a decent selection of Cartoon Network characters, but its lack of certain popular franchises, inconsistent presentation, and meh single-player experiences limit the game to fans of the series and those willing to give it a try. Those with HD platforms looking for a Smash Brothers equivalent will find a decent one here.